


Will-o'-Wisp

by cookinguptales



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Extra Treat, Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 04:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5115797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookinguptales/pseuds/cookinguptales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Crystal Gems are more than enough protection for our world, but a couple jack-o'-lanterns can't hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will-o'-Wisp

**Author's Note:**

  * For [milkandhoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkandhoney/gifts).



> Hi milkandhoney! I hope this satisfies your craving for Halloween Steven Universe fluff! Happy Halloween!

"I don't understand," Pearl said, looking over the mess critically. "What is the point of this?"

"We're carving jack-o'-lanterns, Pearl!" Steven said. He held up his latest creation. He'd been aiming for spooky, but its mouth was kind of lopsided, so it really just looked shy.

"But why? I thought humans ate pumpkins. Why are you just..." She gestured to the scene in front of her, pumpkin guts strewn over blankets and sand and a line of grinning gourds laid out to the side. "It seems sort of wasteful."

Connie laid her carving knife to the side. (Her mother hadn't been pleased about her absconding with the kitchen knives, but it was still a step up from the sword.) "Well, it's tradition. You put candles inside the jack-o'-lanterns, and it scares off evil spirits. I read that people used to use turnips, but..."

"I like the pumpkins a lot better!" Steven cut in. "They make much better pies."

Connie giggled and picked up her knife again. "Right?"

"Connie, when you say 'evil spirits', what exactly do you mean?" Pearl asked, kneeling down next to the pumpkin Steven was currently sawing at.

"It's Halloween!" Steven answered. "All the scary stuff comes out tonight."

"Like ghosts and vampires," Connie added.

"Oh!" Pearl looked relieved. "But those don't exist, Steven."

"So you _say,_ " Steven said, waggling his plastic pumpkin carver at her. Connie hadn't let him use the knives. "But how can you be sure? We see weird stuff all the time."

Pearl rested her fingers against her chin, thoughtful. "I suppose that's true, but..."

"It can't hurt, can it?" Connie asked. "Besides, it's fun!" She put the finishing touches on her jack-o'-lantern and spun it around so Steven could see the ugly face it was making. "Ta da!"

"Connie, that's so cool!" Steven crowded close, sticking his nose right up against the pumpkin's lack.

Then he sat back and looked skywards in thought. "Ummm... Oh, I know! Do this one next!" he said, and then reached up and pulled at one of his eyes with one hand and at the corner of mouth with the other.

"Oooh, good one."

Steven grinned even larger, and exaggerated the face even further as Connie took her pencil and started sketching onto the pumpkin. Then he looked at Pearl. "We' 'ana 'ut anna in--"

"Steven, take your finger out of your mouth. I can't understand you," Pearl admonished.

Steven complied with a sheepish little grin. "Oh right. We're gonna put candles in them soon, Pearl! Do you want to help us?"

"Well..."

"Come on," Connie said, pulling another pumpkin-covered pencil from the folds of the blanket. "You can make one, too!"

After one more moment of hesitation, Pearl reached out and took it. "All right, then. Just one."

"Yayy! It's gonna be so pretty, Pearl!"

 

* * *

Later that evening, when the first of the trick or treaters made their way up to the house, dozens of glowing jack-o'-lanterns lit the way. Some were lopsided, and some were scary, and some--well, some were a little over the top.

"Wow," Sour Cream said, bending over to get a better look at one of them even as Onion tugged him closer to Pearl's candy bucket. "You guys really went all out."

"W-well..." Pearl looked down at the pumpkin sculpture, because that's really what it was. Bits and pieces of different pumpkins had been intricately carved and pieced together to create not just a pumpkin face, but a whole pumpkin monster. "It's tradition, right?"


End file.
